Return to the register

Which of the following applies to you:

Have you let your registration lapse?

If you were fully registered

If you have been out of teaching and have allowed your registration to lapse, you will be required to re-register with us. It is a legal requirement for any teacher to be registered with us whilst teaching in a Scottish state school.

To register with us, you can request an application pack. This contains an Application for Registration with the Council to ensure that our records are correct and up to date. You will be asked to join the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme. If you ware already a member of the scheme you will have an update processed, this is known as an Existing PVG Scheme Member Application.

If you have spent three months or more (in a single period) in a non UK country in the last ten years, we will also require an overseas police check.

Once the registration process is complete, you will receive confirmation of your registration with us and your registration number will be reactivated.

If you were provisionally registered

If you have not been teaching during the lapsed period, it may be necessary for you to seek a reference from an appropriate manager recommending that you be restored to the register. In the absence of this you will be required to complete a Return to Teaching Course.

If you were provisionally registered with us at the time your registration lapsed and your time limit for obtaining Full Registration has expired, your application for restoration to the register may be considered by a Fitness to Teach Panel at a Subsequent Registration Application Hearing. Subsequent Registration Application Hearings are usually held in private and in order to re-register you will be required to demonstrate to the Panel that you are now fit to teach, with particular reference to your professional competence and what steps you have taken to keep your professional knowledge and skills up to date., If a Subsequent Registration Application Hearing is required in your case, you will be informed in writing.

If you have been working as a teacher during the lapsed period, you should arrange to have reports completed by your Headteacher as this information will be helpful to your application and, provided your application is successful, these references may be used towards meeting your probationary service requirements.

If you have completed a Return to Teaching Course you should provide evidence of successful award.

For teachers not currently registered with GTC Scotland

Teachers who were removed/refused via Fitness to Teach procedures, formally known as Conduct and Competence

If you were removed from, or refused entry to, GTC Scotland's Register of teachers by a Fitness to Teach Panel, what was formerly either the Disciplinary Sub-Committee or a Professional Standards Panel, in order to be registered again, your application which is called a Subsequent Registration Application needs to be considered by a Fitness to Teach Panel at a hearing. In order for you to be admitted to our Register, that Panel will need to be satisfied that you are now professionally fit to teach. The onus is on you to demonstrate as part of the application and hearing process that this is the case.

When you were removed from, or refused entry to, the Register, as part of the direction made by the Panel, you would have been told that you were prohibited from applying for registration or re-registration for a set period of time. You cannot make a Subsequent Registration Application until that period has expired.

All applicants should view our Information for teachers removed via Fitness to Teach section to find out about the eligibility criteria and assessment process.

Application form and Guidance Notes

Information for teachers removed via Fitness to Teach

If you were removed from, or refused entry to, GTC Scotland's Register of teachers by a Fitness to Teach Panel (or, in the past, the Disciplinary Sub-Committee or a Professional Standards Panel), in order to be registered again, your application (what we call a "Subsequent Registration Application") needs to be considered by a Fitness to Teach Panel at a hearing. In order for you to be admitted to our Register, that Panel will need to be satisfied that you are now professionally fit to teach. The onus is on you to demonstrate as part of the application and hearing process that this is the case.

When you were removed from, or refused entry to, the Register, as part of the direction made by the Panel, you would have been told that you were prohibited from applying for registration (or re-registration) for a set period of time. You cannot make a Subsequent Registration Application until that period has expired.

The steps in the Subsequent Registration Application procedure are as follows:

Once we have received your application, we will check it to ensure that it is complete, write to your nominated referees and send you a copy of the PVG or EPVG form for completion.

You must return your completed PVG or EPVG application to us so that we can send it to Disclosure Scotland for processing.

Once we receive your referee reports and PVG or EPVG certificate, your application, references and PVG Scheme record will be passed to our Fitness to Teach Department for consideration. The Fitness to Teach Department may carry out any further investigation considered appropriate in the circumstances.

A case management discussion may be arranged to discuss your case and plan how a hearing will run. Further information about that process would be provided at the time by the Fitness to Teach Department.

A hearing date will be arranged by the Fitness to Teach Department and you will be given at least 28 days notice of this. It is important to note that the purpose of the hearing is not to reconsider or re-hear the decision that was made to remove you from, or refuse you entry to, our Register. As noted before, the hearing will focus on determining whether you are now fit to teach. You can find out more about this process from our website or by contacting us.

If the Fitness to Teach Panel decides at the hearing that you may be admitted to the Register, we will write to you to request payment of your registration fee. Once this fee has been received, your name will be placed on the Register of teachers in accordance with the Panel direction.

If the Fitness to Teach Panel decides that you may not be admitted to the Register, you will be advised of your rights of appeal at that time and will be told when it would be possible to apply for registration again.

The Rules that govern our Subsequent Registration Application procedure are principally set out in our Fitness to Teach and Appeals Rules. You can get a copy of these from Fitness to Teach or by contacting us directly if you do not have internet access. You will find both the Rules and our website an important point of information.

You may find it helpful to obtain advice from your Professional Association or a legal adviser on the Subsequent Registration Application process and to assist you in demonstrating at a hearing that you are now professionally fit to teach. Any costs associated with obtaining such advice are a matter for you, not GTC Scotland.

Please note that if you are barred from regulated work with children under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 (or similar legislation), any subsequent registration application will be refused automatically. You have no right of appeal where you are refused registration by GTC Scotland in these circumstances.

Required registration documentation

Failure to send in all the required documentation will result in your application being delayed. It may also lead to your application being closed and destroyed. If this happens you will be required to re-apply and you will be treated as a new applicant who will be required to complete another application form, provide supporting documentation and pay the non-refundable processing fee.

Birth Certificate

Documentation in support of name change

Personal details page of passport (if applicable)

PVG scheme Membership (if applicable)

Overseas Criminal Record check (if applicable)

For teachers not currently registered with GTC Scotland

Teachers whose provisional registration was cancelled by a Panel

If your provisional registration was cancelled by a Fitness to Teach Panel (or, in the past, a Professional Standards Panel) and you were removed from the Register because you had failed to reach the required standard at the end of a period of probationary service, in order to be registered again, a re-registration application made by you (which is called a Subsequent Registration Application) needs to be considered by a Fitness to Teach Panel at a hearing. In order for you to be admitted to our Register, the Panel will need to be satisfied that you are now professionally fit to teach. The onus is on you to demonstrate as part of the application and hearing process that this is the case.

When you were removed from (or where you have already made a Subsequent Registration Application that has been unsuccessful, refused entry to) the Register, as part of the direction made by the Panel, you would have been told that you were prohibited from applying for re-registration for a set period of time. You cannot make a Subsequent Registration Application until that period has expired.

All applicants should view our Information for teachers removed via Fitness to Teach section to find out about the eligibility criteria and assessment process.

Information for teachers whose provisional registration was cancelled

The steps in the Subsequent Registration Application procedure are as follows:

Once we have received your application, we will check it to ensure that it is complete, write to your nominated referees and send you a copy of the PVG or EPVG form for completion.

You must return your completed PVG or EPVG application to us so that we can send it to Disclosure Scotland for processing.

Once we receive your referee reports and PVG or EPVG certificate, your application, references and PVG Scheme record will be passed to our Legal and Adjudication Services Department.

A hearing date will be arranged by the Legal and Adjudication Services Department and you will be given at least 28 days notice of this.

It is important to note that the purpose of the hearing is not to reconsider the decision that was made to cancel your provisional registration. As noted before, the hearing will focus on determining whether you are now fit to teach. You can find out more about this process from our website or by contacting us.

If the Fitness to Teach Panel decide at the hearing that you may be admitted to the Register, we will write to you to request payment of your registration fee. Once this fee has been received, your name will be placed on the Register of teachers in accordance with the Panel direction.

If the Fitness to Teach Panel decide that you may not be admitted to the Register, you will be advised of your rights of appeal at that time and will be told when it would be possible to apply for registration again.

The Rules that govern our Subsequent Registration Application procedure are set out in Part 4 of our Fitness to Teach and Appeals Rules. You can get a copy of these from our website or by contacting us directly if you do not have internet access. You will find both the Rules and our website an important point of information.

You may find it helpful to obtain advice from your Professional Association or a legal adviser on the Subsequent Registration Application process and to assist you in demonstrating at a hearing that you are now professionally fit to teach. Any costs associated with obtaining such advice are a matter for you, not GTC Scotland.

Please note that if you are barred from regulated work with children under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 (or similar legislation), any subsequent registration application will be refused automatically. You have no right of appeal where you are refused registration by GTC Scotland in these circumstances.

Required registration documentation

Failure to send in all the required documentation will result in your application being delayed. It may also lead to your application being closed and destroyed. If this happens you will be required to re-apply and you will be treated as a new applicant who will be required to complete another application form, provide supporting documentation and pay the non-refundable processing fee.